Laundry Day
by MightyMorphingPomegranate
Summary: Booth helps Brennan with her laundry. Fluff is inevitable. Rated T for mild sexual tension.


**So, I have about twenty half-baked storied going right now. This is one of them... In my head, this happens mid season 4.**

 **Enjoy!**

... ... ... ... ...

It was a Saturday morning.

"Bones!" She jumped up, startled. She hadn't expected to see anyone she knew here, of all places, much less her partner. He walked over to her, his expression mostly frustrated but somewhat amused. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Brennan turned back to the basket of white fabric on the table so that he wouldn't see that small smile climbing up her cheeks. "You know my washing machine is broken. How did you find me, Booth?" She knew her partner, so she already knew the answer.

Booth just smirked and waved his phone in front of her face. "I tracked ya, Bones. You weren't at your place. Imagine my surprise when I look at the screen and see that you're _here_ , at some shady little laundromat in Anacostia. What the hell are you doin' on this side of the river? Alone, huh?"

"That is an egregious invasion into my privacy," she replied calmly, still fighting the grin that hid just behind her lips. "And you know I can take care of myself, Booth."

"Yeah, you know what? I don't want to hear it today, alright? You need to be more _careful_ , Bones." His hands were on his hips, agitated. He stepped close, trying to intimidate her into submission with his proximity. "From now on you're _not allowed-_ ", her eyebrows shot up in defiance, but he held a hand up, "no, _not allowed_ to come to this neighborhood alone."

She scoffed. They both knew that she would do whatever she wanted, but Brennan would respect his command out of deference to the man she had come to love in so many ways. She'd never tell him that, though. She loved ruffling his feathers a little. And for that very reason, she reached into her laundry basket and breezily hooked a white cotton thong with her index finger, folding it and laying it on the table nonchalantly. Her prudish partner swallowed audibly.

"Are you going to stay and assist me, Booth? Make sure I get home okay?" she asked, a small teasing smile curving one side of her mouth.

"You drive me crazy," he sighed, rubbing a hand over his face. "You're so _infuriating_."

She motioned to her laundry basket, silently inviting him to help her fold. He pulled out a towel and folded it with his usual army precision.

"To answer your question, this was the only laundromat I could think of. I noticed it the other day when we drove through this area."

Booth laughed. "When we drove through the area looking for a _murder_ suspect, Bones!" He shook his head in amicable disbelief. "Jeez, woman, you are gonna be the _death_ of me."

"Well, maybe if you'd let me have a gun..." she grinned, pulling out another old argument that she knew would get under his skin. Booth clenched his smiling jaw, refusing to take the bait. Instead, he shoved her lightly with his shoulder.

"You know, you could have just used my washer."

"I did consider asking you, but it was still quite early this morning when I decided to come here. Besides, this way I can do all of my laundry simultaneously." She motioned to two of the dryers spinning her clothes around over and over.

"Oh, I should have guessed. How _efficient_ ," he said, teasing her with that ever-so-charming smile.

"Thank you," she replied, pretending not to catch his tone.

... ... ... ... ...

To his great relief, Brennan had removed all of her undergarments from the basket and set them in a discreet pile off to her side of the table. It was torture enough for him to touch all of her soft white t-shirts and cute little socks while the sweet smell of her detergent filled his nose.

There was something so comfortably domestic about folding laundry with this woman. The warm sunlight poured in from the big picture windows of the storefront. Booth couldn't help but note how adorable she looked in her weekend clothes. Small wisps of hair had escaped her pony tail and were now framing her face in willowy lines. He found himself fantasizing about how it would feel to bury his face in the warm curve of her neck and follow the delicate dip of her exposed collarbone with his mouth.

"I thought you had Parker today," Brennan commented, pulling Booth away from his daydreams.

"Uh.. Yeah, I was supposed to have him, but Rebecca wanted to take him to some cherry festival, so we traded weekends."

Brennan's eyes lit up. "So you'll have him next weekend?" Booth nodded, turning his whole body towards her so that he could soak in every bit of her delight. He loved it when she got excited about something. Her face was radiant. "Booth, can I take him to the observatory to watch the meteor shower on Sunday morning? He would _love_ it!" Brennan was practically jumping up and down. "You are welcome to come, too, of course."

"Yeah, Bones, that sounds great," he said, unable to resist the dopey smile that fought its way to his face.

"I wanted to ask you about it earlier, but I did the math and realized that it would have been Rebecca's weekend to have him." She reached out and grabbed his forearm. "Oh, Booth, I'm so excited! He's really going to love it."

 _God, she's_ _adorable_ , Booth thought to himself. _How does she not know what she does to me? My clueless little genius..._

"Thanks for spending time with my kid, Bones," he said seriously. "We're really lucky to have you in our lives."

She shrugged sheepishly. "I guess I kinda like you guys."

He held her gaze, allowing his eyes say the things that he didn't dare let fall from his mouth. As they turned back to the laundry, Booth let his arm brush against hers. Things like that had been happening between them a lot lately. More looking, more touching, more flirting, more time spent together outside of work. He knew if he wasn't careful, the line would become blurrier and blurrier.

"So... what are your plans for the day, besides laundry?" he asked her, returning to his typical lighthearted tone.

"Well, nothing much. I have a book signing this evening, but it's not until seven. What are you doing today?"

"Well..." he said with a casual shrug, "I don't have anything on my schedule. That's kinda why I went to your place this morning, to see if you wanted to hang out."

His honesty was rewarded with a sweet smile. "Yeah, that sounds great. Oh, would you go with me tonight? I hate these things."

He grinned devilishly. "Only if you introduce me as the real-life Agent Lister."

She growled in frustration. "Oh my _god_ , Booth. How many times do I have to tell you? Andy is not you, and you are not Andy."

"Oh, I've read your books. _Quite_ insightful, Temperance, quite insightful..."

"I don't know what that means."

"Uhh-huh. Okay." The smug, knowing smirk on his face brought a blush to her cheeks. He leaned in so that he mouth was right behind her ear and murmured, "Sure, babe, whatever you say."

She slapped his shoulder. " _Don't_ call me babe," she said through gritted teeth. "And stop that, whatever you're trying to do."

Laughing, Booth returned to the laundry. He shook out a pillowcase and a small ball of crumpled lace fell to the table. "Oh, uh... Bones. You missed one." Brennan reached down and grabbed the offending garment.

"They're just underwear, Booth," she chided, smoothing them out and holding them brazenly in front of her.

" _Just underwear_ ," he muttered, chuckling and shaking his head. "They can't be 'just underwear' when they're _your_ underwear, Bones." He said it softly, almost vulnerably, as if he were revealing a secret.

Booth swore that her cheeks looked a little pinker than normal.

A young mother and two little children walked in the door. She eyed Booth and Brennan cautiously, no doubt connecting the pair with the nice cars in the parking lot. She set her basket down on the opposite side of the room and went back outside. When Booth noticed that she was struggling to get her bags of laundry through the doors, he went to help her.

When he returned, Brennan was bent over her basket on the floor, filling it with tidy little piles of clothes. Her cute little tush was sticking up into the air. Oh, how he _loved_ those shorts on her.

The grin fell quickly from Booth's face, however, when he realized that he wasn't the only one admiring his partner. A heavily tattooed man was sitting along the wall, openly eyeing Brennan. Booth felt a growl rumble low in his throat. He strutted back over to her, but he never took his eyes off of the big guy in the corner.

Brennan straightened up and smiled at his return. "That was nice of you to help her, Booth," she murmured to him once he was close enough to hear. His only reply was to wrap a protective arm around her waist. Brennan followed his glare to the man sitting against the wall, who smirked and looked away. She turned into her partner's body, amused by his alpha male behavior, and played along with his little show.

"You markin' your territory there, Booth?" she grinned at him, laying her hands on his chest.

Booth moved his other arm to encircle her waist and grinned right back. "Maybe I am, Bones. Are you admitting to being my 'territory'?"

She snorted. "Not on your life, buddy."

"Hmm, I didn't think so," he said with mock disappointment.

"You know I can take care of myself."

"Oh, I know," he nodded. "I was looking out for that guy. Poor dope has no clue what an inevitable ass-kicking lies in store for him if his hands try to go where his eyes just did."

Her grin softened to a sweet smile.

"Listen," she said, her eyebrow quirking upwards over a sparkling eye, "don't tell my _partner_ ," she winked, "but sometimes it's nice to have someone watching my back."

"Alright," he agreed, "but you've gotta keep a secret for me, then. I'm pretty sure _my_ partner," he winked, "could kick that dude's ass, and _mine,_ too. And she'd look beautiful doing it. She doesn't need my help, but I'm glad she accepts it from time to time."

Brennan laughed warmly and placed a quick kiss on his cheek before darting over to the now-silent dryers.

Booth was left rooted to the spot, absentmindedly rubbing the place where her lips had touched his skin. He had never known that laundry could be so... _exhilarating_.

... ... ... ... ...

 **I'm inclined to keep this as a oneshot.**

 **Please review!**


End file.
